Gianna Orten was honored as one of two recipients of the seventh annual Woodbridge High School Marisa Tufaro Memorial Scholarship during a senior awards ceremony at the high school on Monday night.
Through its benevolence, Woodbridge High School fully funds the scholarship in Marisa’s honor and loving memory.
The scholarship is awarded to two exceptional seniors who strive for excellence academically, athletically, or in the arts, who overcame adversity (not limited to medical challenges) and who epitomize the caring spirit that Marisa’s family believes makes the Woodbridge school-community special.
More than 110 students who were celebrated during the ceremony received scholarships totaling more than $66,000.
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation is honored that the annual Woodbridge High School memorial scholarships were awarded to Gianna and Brody Kist, two outstanding recipients who embody Marisa’s indomitable spirit (you can read a story about Brody here).
Born with a complex cardiac defect, Marisa survived six open-heart surgeries and a heart transplant before succumbing to a rare form of cancer in 2017 following a valiant battle. She was just 13 years old. Despite being hospitalized for more than two years and maintaining hundreds of doctor’s appointments, Marisa was an honor roll student involved in myriad extracurricular activities who lived a vibrant life that inspired.
A starting second baseman on Woodbridge’s varsity softball team, Gianna made a life-saving bone marrow donation last December to her father, Christopher, who was diagnosed six months earlier with Leukemia. Extensive testing determined Gianna was the best match for her father.
On December 9, Gianna spent 12 hours in the hospital, where doctors successfully removed the stem cells from her bone marrow. A week later, those healthy bone marrow cells were transfused into Christopher, a loving husband and devoted father of three.
Before doctors removed Gianna’s bone marrow, they needed to stimulate her bone marrow cells for retrieval, which required her to go to the hospital on four consecutive mornings to receive injections. Immediately afterward, Gianna came to school, maintaining a stoicism that would not allow others to know what she or her family was enduring.
“A lot of people didn’t know what she had gone through in that process,” Woodbridge High School softball coach Courtney Murgittroyd said. “You would never read that on her face at school. That’s what really makes her a true hero. She’s unbelievably strong. It’s really admirable, what she went through. The experience shapes her in the most positive way for the rest of her life.”
Gianna earned a starting spot on the varsity infield as a junior and her career continued to blossom, especially toward the end of her senior year.
“She’s one of those players who was a hidden gem for us,” Murgittroyd said. “We didn’t know how much she was going to step up and impact the program. She stepped into the second base position and she owned it. Seeing her graduate is going to be bittersweet. I selfishly want to keep her. She played solid defense, and toward the end of this season she hit a home run. I wish we had more time with her.”
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation is eternally grateful for the support it has received from Woodbridge High School, which has hosted the Greater Middlesex Conference All-Star basketball doubleheader, the Tecmo Bowl for Tufaro, a Pictures with Santa event, and sponsored the Marisa Tufaro Classic bowling tournament as fundraisers.
In addition, the school community has donated money raised from a dress down day and the entire gate from three of its football team’s home openers to the nonprofit. Woodbridge is also the host of this year’s Marisa Rose Bowl charity all-star football game.
Countless student-athletes from multiple sports have participated in other fundraising events that benefited The Marisa Tufaro Foundation.
Donations from administrators, faculty, staff, and parents have enabled the nonprofit to fulfill its mission of helping pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.
In less than six years, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has donated nearly $300,000 and spearheaded multiple community initiatives, resulting in the collection of thousands of toys, nonperishable food items, winter coats, baby supplies, and other items upon which it has placed no monetary value.
Woodbridge High School has also played an enormous and vital role in helping the nonprofit collect items for donation.
As if the school-community has not done enough, it continues to open its collective hearts every year with the annual scholarship in Marisa’s name.
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation would like to extend its sincere appreciation and deepest gratitude to Woodbridge Township School District Superintendent Joseph Massimino, the Board of Education, the high school’s guidance department, its scholarship selection committee, faculty, staff, and administration, especially Principal Scott Osborne, Vice Principal Mary Panko, Vice Principal Lee Mosko, Guidance Department Head Kevin Kane, and Athletics Director Joe Ward.
Marisa’s parents, Cyndi and Greg, hope the gift Woodbridge High School has given their family, which is the ability to keep alive Marisa’s memory and honor her legacy through this scholarship, will be returned exponentially.
They wish all the graduating seniors continued success in their future endeavors and will ask Marisa to watch over them.